Corey Harris

I saw Corey Harris open for BB King back in the late 90's and he was amazing. He played solo acoustic and dobro "front porch" style blues. I saw him again years later on the Scorsese documentary exploring the roots of blues in Africa and central America. He's incorporated that into his music to deliver a mash up of reggae, blues, jazz, and African folk. Unfortunately it doesn't end up being so much a hybrid sound as a disconnected series of songs that seem to all be from a different place. The show at the Ark was poorly attended - maybe 40-50 people max. Maybe this had an effect on the band, because they performed as if there were only 40-50 people there rather than pouring much emotion into it. CH seemed bored or tired or stoned (not assuming or implying he was - it was just the sleepy vibe) for at least the first third of the set. When he went from the raggae sound to traditional blues, the crowd was very visibly more into it and responsive. But I got the feeling it wasn't what the band wanted to play - it was just something thrown in every few songs so they didn't lose the audience completely. About 3/4 of the way through the band left and Corey did several solo acoustic songs - by far the best part of the show. His voice seemed stronger and more resonant and the music hit the crowd much more deeply. But he again seemed to get bored as the band came back out and they went back to more mish mash sounds including Corey donning fake Jamaican accents or African vocals. I understand the appreciation for this folk music, and even look forward to hearing how it's worked into the music, but just trying to copy them does not do justice to the authentic voice that Corey Harris has. I hope he finds a good middle ground going forward.